After 45 years, HBO is officially out of the fight game. But HBO Boxing anchor Jim Lampley is not going down without a fight.
Or at least, the popular pugilism host and journalist wasn’t signing off of the premium-cable channel without taking full advantage of the chance to deliver a lovely farewell to his televised passion.
Rattling off some of the legendary names in the HBO Boxing “family” — including those we’ve lost — Lampley acknowledged the unfortunate truth as to why AT&T-Time Warner decided to shutter his bread-and-butter department.
“At the end of the day, this family was also a business,” Lampley told viewers this past weekend. “And every business has an organic beginning and a natural, inevitable end. Here at HBO Boxing, the end has come. We thank you for watching. We urge you to turn elsewhere to continue your support of this purest and most human of all competitive sports.”
Lampley then called the fighters “uniquely precious” and labeled the lessons taught to us from inside the ring as “timeless” and “indispensable.”
There were numerous points at which Lampley had to pause to choke back tears. You might join him in that.
Watch Lampley’s sign-off here:
Jim Lampley's final sign-off on HBO's last ever boxing broadcast. The voice of the sport for generations. pic.twitter.com/ocu64KLARy
— Ronan Mullen (@RonanReigns) December 9, 2018